Seeding bins at a convention - how do you do it? 4 4

[RCheli]

2 minutes ago, Alawson453 said:

What I meant is by the time customers finish going through my $3 boxes they usually end up spending at least $20-$25.

No -- I agree with you. $3 and $5 bins are the bee's knees. They're consistently good sellers.

[musicmeta]

This thread has so much great info on how to sell at a show.  VERY informative.  If I ever do decide to sell at a local show, this info will be MOST HELPFUL!  Thank you all!

[BlowUpTheMoon]

30 minutes ago, justafan said:

the scummy dealers

[1Cool]

7 minutes ago, RCheli said:

No -- I agree with you. $3 and $5 bins are the bee's knees. They're consistently good sellers.

I did terrible in my $5 boxes at pretty much all my Cons except to blow out books to other dealers for 30 for $100.  But then I'm not going to put $20 / $25 E-Bay books into my $5 boxes unless the $20 is a prayer or the book has dropped a ton in popularity.  I love seeing nice books in $5 boxes but I cut them back when found $5 box buyers were not $1 filling a collection guys but just guys looking for an easy flip.

[RCheli]

12 minutes ago, 1Cool said:

I did terrible in my $5 boxes at pretty much all my Cons except to blow out books to other dealers for 30 for $100.  But then I'm not going to put $20 / $25 E-Bay books into my $5 boxes unless the $20 is a prayer or the book has dropped a ton in popularity.  I love seeing nice books in $5 boxes but I cut them back when found $5 box buyers were not $1 filling a collection guys but just guys looking for an easy flip.

My $5 bins are full of late Silver Age and Bronze Age mid-grade comics. Take your Sub-Mariner #41. In Fine condition, it's probably $12 in Overstreet. That goes right in the $5 box. The vast majority of DC war books from 1966 to 1973 or so... $5 box. 

[ned]

3 hours ago, Artboy99 said:

Make sure you tape the insides of your boxes: flaps to the outer walls of the box. Common theft method is to pull a desired comic up from the box then put it back in the box but put the comic(s) in between the flap and the wall to the outside of the box and push the comic down. Now the comic is out of your sight and stolen.

I've read this a few times and can't figure out how this theft works, I'm sure it's right here in black and white but I still don't get it.

If a comic is pulled up from your box and pushed back into your box (but behind a flap) isn't it still in your box and therefore still in your possession? You might not be able to see it but it didn't walk away with the crook, right? Or tell me what I'm missing here.

[Bird]

3 minutes ago, ned said:

I've read this a few times and can't figure out how this theft works, I'm sure it's right here in black and white but I still don't get it.

If a comic is pulled up from your box and pushed back into your box (but behind a flap) isn't it still in your box and therefore still in your possession? You might not be able to see it but it didn't walk away with the crook, right? Or tell me what I'm missing here.

They move it to the gap between the front flap and the actual box so that it slips through the seam, or at least that is how I read this.

[RCheli]

Just put packing tape on the bottom of the gap.

[1Cool]

24 minutes ago, RCheli said:

My $5 bins are full of late Silver Age and Bronze Age mid-grade comics. Take your Sub-Mariner #41. In Fine condition, it's probably $12 in Overstreet. That goes right in the $5 box. The vast majority of DC war books from 1966 to 1973 or so... $5 box. 

I agree that book would be great in a $5 box but I just didn't get any buyers for that type of books at the $5 level.  People at mys last few Cons all seemed to be looking for Sub-Mariner 34 in FN in my $5 boxes.  It of course could just be the Cons I did and may of just been me but I did badly with $5 boxes so I switched to not doing Cons

[Artboy99]

11 minutes ago, RCheli said:

Just put packing tape on the bottom of the gap.

Correct

[1Cool]

28 minutes ago, RCheli said:

My $5 bins are full of late Silver Age and Bronze Age mid-grade comics. Take your Sub-Mariner #41. In Fine condition, it's probably $12 in Overstreet. That goes right in the $5 box. The vast majority of DC war books from 1966 to 1973 or so... $5 box. 

Now you just depressed me.  I did a e-bay search to see how Sub-Mariner 41s sell for and the price realized is just sad.  3 copies not in a set have sold over the last couple weeks.  That is world wide and at around $5 a piece.  Guess no body is putting together Sub-Mariner runs anymore.

[thehumantorch]

1 hour ago, blazingbob said:

A Dealer is a "customer" just like everybody else.  Only difference is that I paid for a booth to get in early.  My shopping hours are before the show opens.  I don't have the luxury of shopping during the show hours for long periods of time.  So basically you are losing me as a "customer".  I spend lots of money if the material is priced fairly.  In all of the years I've been doing business dealers outspend retail customers at least 10 - 1.  So that one book you sell to the retail customer you might have sold me 9 others.  Try to put away your "resentment" of all the good deals being gone before you set up on the other side of the table.

The other thing to consider is that when customers are coming to a show there is no "first shot".  Everything is on my website,  the first "shot" guy can go to my website and reserve books long before the show opens.  If the "good deal" is gone it is because you didn't go to my website first.

I don't hide books in boxes.  

The "Seeding good books in boxes game" only works if everyone is "playing" and knows who is doing it.

To be fair Mr Blazing, he's not against selling to dealers, he's against selling to dealers he doesn't like and I can understand that.  There are local dealers here who'd rip their own grandmother off to make a buck and I see no point in helping them stay in business.

[FlyingDonut]

17 minutes ago, 1Cool said:

Now you just depressed me.  I did a e-bay search to see how Sub-Mariner 41s sell for and the price realized is just sad.  3 copies not in a set have sold over the last couple weeks.  That is world wide and at around $5 a piece.  Guess no body is putting together Sub-Mariner runs anymore.

The series you're referring to had its last issue in 1974, 45 years ago. The last Sub-Mariner comic book published was Sub-Mariner: The Depths, which had its last issue come out in 2009, 10 years ago. No one is putting together a Sub-Mariner run because Marvel hasn't published a Sub-Mariner comic in ten years.

[cosmic_surfer]

1 hour ago, blazingbob said:

A Dealer is a "customer" just like everybody else.  Only difference is that I paid for a booth to get in early.  My shopping hours are before the show opens.  I don't have the luxury of shopping during the show hours for long periods of time.  So basically you are losing me as a "customer".  I spend lots of money if the material is priced fairly.  In all of the years I've been doing business dealers outspend retail customers at least 10 - 1.  So that one book you sell to the retail customer you might have sold me 9 others.  Try to put away your "resentment" of all the good deals being gone before you set up on the other side of the table.

The other thing to consider is that when customers are coming to a show there is no "first shot".  Everything is on my website,  the first "shot" guy can go to my website and reserve books long before the show opens.  If the "good deal" is gone it is because you didn't go to my website first.

I don't hide books in boxes.  

The "Seeding good books in boxes game" only works if everyone is "playing" and knows who is doing it.

I am not a dealer but I used to frequent comic shows and are friendly to the local dealers in my area. Every time I go to shows, I always ask dealers I am tight with on what were their pick ups before the doors opened. They would show me multiple copies of hot books bought from an unknowing seller or high grade keys for a few cents on a dollar. 

I normally praise their savvy buying tactics but this leaves me with a bad taste in my mouth. When I go to shows, I would FIRST buy 1 or 2 keys and a lot of fillers for my run. I eventually stopped going to the local shows as I find it pointless. I find that the thrill of hunting for decently priced keys is now gone. 

[shadroch]

If you don't want a particular dealer or two looking at your books, don't let them. It's pretty simple. Pretend you are Blazing Bob and Dougie Schmell wants to cherry pick your stock. It's for moments just like this that God gave you two middle fingers and testicles.

[the blob]

Get a wall. I am a bin hunter and I wouldn't say I wouldn't look at a table without a wall, but I don't think it hurts, and frankly, don't put $50+ books in your long boxes (I assume you are not bringing a ton of big time books and are setting up like metropolis or Harley yee (who has books flopping around everywhere, I don't understand how he doesn't have $20,000 in theft each show)..those expensive books will (1) get stolen (yes, even in Canada) and (2) may get bent/damaged, even if you have 10 backing boards, Just don't do it.

As for seeding books, I wouldn't bother. Hey, I love to snag a good deal and I am a guy who will spend $200-300 on cheap books if you have good stuff (ask Zapp), but why seed a [legit ebayable] $25 book in your $5 box only to have some guy (like half the people on this board) go through all your boxes early in the show and yank every seeded book? If you have some good stuff I will keep on looking, you don't have to give me a $20 gift. Not to say I don't get a few each show I go to, but I think they are oversights more than anything else, and frankly, I am the guy who should be getting that $25 book because I am not cherry picking.

As for that Sub-Mariner 41 rcheli mentioned..., I was thinking "you can sell that for $5 at a show?"...Sure, I'd try to get at least $5 on ebay, if I had a vast store I'd put it up for $10 and field offers, but that book probably moves better in a 3 for $10 box.

As for selling to dealers (I have only done a couple of shows and none in 20 years)..price your good stuff where you feel comfortable. Honestly, I don't see the point in pricing stuff at the minimum you'd be willing to take, because that just sets you up for further downward negotiation beyond your comfort zone. Give yourself a 10-15% buffer. Not talking about your $3 or $5 books, but the price as marked stuff. I know you don't want to scare people off with too high prices, but if you don't think you'd do less than $50 on a book, marking it at $55-60 probably won't scare folks off. They'll ask if you'll take $50. Mark it at $50 and they'll offer $40. I know some dealers can be unsavory types, but some of them can be cool, just like here. Are you happier getting picked clean by 15 junior ebay flippers or 3 dealers? Just don't let them bully you into taking a personal check. At least when they take your stuff and mark it up they'll make you look cheaper. I once saw Harley Yee buy a long box from either Redbeard or Jscomics at one of the Mike Carbonaro St. Paul church shows in Manhattan the 90s (why he came all the way from Michigan i have no idea, can't remember, but it was a NJ guy with a big set-up)..$2 books, but I think he was doing $200 for a long box, so less than a buck a book..it was good stuff, and I was frantically trying to fill my long box (I filled mine until it almost exploded) and beat Harley to the good stuff, but he had a 15 minute head start on me. I might be wrong, but I think he just took that box over to his table and marked them at $5 each! 

Edited January 9, 2019 by the blob

[the blob]

"They would show me multiple copies of hot books bought from an unknowing seller or high grade keys for a few cents on a dollar."

This stuff isn't a mystery, it's pretty easy to use the internet to get an idea of what the books are worth, and if you only do 1 or 2 shows a year you have even more time to verify your inventory pre-show.

 

[1Cool]

51 minutes ago, FlyingDonut said:

The series you're referring to had its last issue in 1974, 45 years ago. The last Sub-Mariner comic book published was Sub-Mariner: The Depths, which had its last issue come out in 2009, 10 years ago. No one is putting together a Sub-Mariner run because Marvel hasn't published a Sub-Mariner comic in ten years.

fair enough but pick another random non key book.  How about Ghost Rider 27.  Still a relevant character and no sales of any copies not in a set in almost a month.  How about Superman 318?  I don't see a sale in almost a month.  X-men 87?  Bit more but most were high grades and even then only 4 or 5 in a month on a world wide marketplace.

[the blob]

"I love seeing nice books in $5 boxes but I cut them back when found $5 box buyers were not $1 filling a collection guys but just guys looking for an easy flip."

Now the question is would you put likely $10 ebay sales in your $5 boxes to avoid the hassle of ebay?

Frankly, I don't know why anyone puts a non hot or non-scarce/GA book up for auction on ebay. Well, I do, they want to get rid of it, and that's what will happen I suppose.

[RCheli]

1 minute ago, 1Cool said:

fair enough but pick another random non key book.  How about Ghost Rider 27.  Still a relevant character and no sales of any copies not in a set in almost a month.  How about Superman 318?  I don't see a sale in almost a month.  X-men 87?  Bit more but most were high grades and even then only 4 or 5 in a month on a world wide marketplace.

I've had a fair number of people asking me about those reprint X-Mens of late... and that Ghost Rider would be in my $3 boxes.

The issue with low-price comics on eBay is that you have to add shipping into the mix. That savings of buying a comic cheap disappears if you'd adding $5+ to the buy.